The Adani Group is considering an application to operate on India's public digital payments network and is in discussions with banks to finalize plans for a co-branded credit card. This move to expand into consumer businesses aligns with the conglomerate's plans to invest $84 billion in infrastructure over the next decade.
If the application is approved, Adani will enter India’s rapidly growing digital payments market, challenging established players like Google Pay and Walmart-backed PhonePe. The market is projected to grow from $357.51 billion in 2024 to $814.43 billion in 2029, according to Mordor Intelligence. As of April, PhonePe leads the market with a 48.9% share, followed by Google Pay at 37.7%.
In addition to digital payments, the Adani Group is exploring offering online shopping via India’s government-backed public e-commerce platform, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). These services would be available through Adani’s consumer app, Adani One, which launched in December 2022.
The group's expansion plans come as it seeks to recover from the impact of a January 2023 report by U.S. short-seller Hindenburg. The report accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens, allegations that the group has denied. In May 2023, a court-appointed panel reported that India's markets watchdog found no evidence to support the allegations, and in January, the country's top court stated that no further scrutiny was needed.
Despite the setback from the Hindenburg report, four of the seven Adani Group companies have surpassed their pre-report levels. Adani Enterprises, the group's flagship firm, has seen an intraday recovery, though its shares remain about 4% below pre-report levels. The Adani Group did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the Financial Times report.
